Lily's First Job
by ChuckingDaffodils
Summary: Lily Evans returns home after finishing her O.W.L.s to discover her parents have gotten her a job interview at the market. Oneshot, done in an effort to calm pre-job jitters. Rated K for minor sibling rivalry


A/N: Oneshot about Lily Evans during the summer between her 5th and 6th Years at Hogwarts. She returns back home, where her parents want her and Petunia to find jobs.

* * *

"We're here!' I cried to no one in particular as the Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross. I leaned out the window to wave to my Mother and Dad, who were standing with my older sister Petunia not but 12 feet from where the train had now stopped.

Grabbing my bag, I hurried out of the compartment to give Mother and Tuney great big hugs as Dad grabbed my trunk out of the storage towards the back of the train.

"Where's your friend, 'Sev', Lily?" asked Tuney with a smirk as we left Platform 9 ¾ . She was always jealous of me because I was accepted into Hogwarts, while she was not, and always gave me a hard time during holidays.

I didn't answer Tuney; the fact that my first friend from the Wizarding had called me the worst possible name less than 2 months ago still was a sensitive topic to me, and I couldn't bear to tell Tuney what he had said. She always called him 'freaky' anyways, and I had always stood up for him.

"How were your exams this year, Lilybell?" asked Dad as we piled into the car. I then then proceeded to spill every little detail about the O. that I had finished a little over a week ago, not noticing that Dad had stopped and parked the car at a place that was too close to King's Cross to be our home.

"Where are we, Dad?" I inquired as I pulled myself up and rested my chin on his shoulder. Dad and I always had a special bond; I was a true Daddy's girl, probably because I was the one who had inherited his love of reading and of sports, while Tuney had shared Mother's interests; cooking, cleaning and spying on the neighbours.

"Well, Lilybell, your Mother and I decided that you should get a job this summer, so at the end of the summer you'll be able to transfer your money into Magical money and be able to purchase all your school books in August; what with your L.I.Z.A.R.D.S and such coming up..."

"They're N.E.W.T.s, Daddy, you know that,' I responded playfully. 'Anyway, why are we here now? Don't I have to fill out a...um... whatever that paper thing is called..?"

"An application, Lily." Petunia injected from her seat in the backseat.

"Thanks, Tuney." I shot her a wide smile and she rolled her eyes at me.

"No, Lilybell, your Mother did that last week for you. Now you need to go in for an interview." Dad said as he unlocked my door.

"But..what..." I stuttered as I got out of the car. Tuney was giggling at me from her seat.

"Petunia, leave Lily alone. And you're going, too." scolded Mother. Petunia's giggled changed instantly into whines.

"Come on, Tuney,' I persisted. 'If we do this together, maybe the manager will like us so much that we'll get the job in no time! Then you'll be able to save up enough money to buy those big round music player discs you like..."

"They're called records, genius,' Tuney snorted. But I could tell she liked the idea of having enough money to support herself.

So, arm in arm, Tuney and I walked into the supermarket, met the manager, got interviewed separately and were both told that we would hear from them on Monday morning.

xxxxxx

The next Monday, Tuney and I were waiting anxiously by the phone, waiting for it to ring. And it did, at precisely 8:28 AM.

"Hello?' Tuney, having longer arms than I did, reached the phone first and picked it up. 'This is she...uh-huh... I see..oh, I see...oh, see...oh...uh-huh... Well, thank you. I'll tell her, Mr Porter. Thank you. Good-bye."

"Well?" I asked.

"Well,' Tuney started grimly.

"Well what?" I was too nervous to find out if I had got the job, but too nervous to find out if I hadn't gotten the job.

"Well...' Tuney's eyes glistened with an idea before she continued. 'well, nothing. If you want to know the outcome, phone Mr. Porter yourself." She started to strut down the hall, much like that arrogant toerag from school, James Potter.

But I wasn't the kind of person who would phone when my sister knew what happened was only about 8 feet away from me. So I ran up to her and jumped on her back.

"Tuney!' I cried playfully as she shrieked with surprise. 'Tell me now, or I'll go and tell Mother and Dad about that Dursley boy who you are seeing!"

"You wouldn't!' cried Tuney.

"Oh, I would." I grinned devishley and hopped down from her back.

"Fine, I'll tell you;' said Tuney. Finally! '...if you tell me what the deal is between you and Severus Snape."

"I don't want to talk about it.' I confessed. 'So, you have to tell me what Mr Porter said otherwise...' I paused for dramatic effect.

"MOTHER! DAD! TUNEY HAS SOMETHING SHE LIKE TO TELL YO-"

"Ack, Tuney, get your hand off my mouth!' I said, voice muffeled.

"Fine, Lily. You want to know what Mr Porter said?' asked Tuney. Well, of course I did. 'You got the job, and I- I didn't."

"Aw, Tuney, I'm sorry." I opened my arms for a hug, but she turned on her heel and headed for her bedroom, slamming the door when she got there.

xxxxx

I was to start work in three weeks, which gave me and Mother more than enough time to find things for my uniform and for me to memorize all the fruits and veggie codes. I was all fit to start, until a week before my first day.

"What am I supposed to do on my first day?" I asked Mother for the billionth time.

"Lily, dear, just go to the Service desk and tell them it is your first day of work." Mother reminded me unenthusiastically. She was getting tired of my constant worrying.

Finally, far too soon, the first day rolled around. I was at loss of a driver, for Mother and Dad were at work, and Tuney, having failed her drivers test multiple times, was in no way allowed behind the wheel of a car. So, I walked to the supermarket, opting to take the sidewalk as opposed to the trail that I knew Sev- I mean, Severus- would probably be haunting, as he had done for the past 4 summers. I was not so lucky as to avoid him, though, as he somehow caught up to me as I hurried along Drummond Street.

"Where are you headed, Lily?" Severus asked in a casual tone, as if we had been having a comfortable conversation for the past 10 minutes.

"Nowhere, Severus.' I replied in the iciest tone. 'And don't you have Dark spells you could be casting, or Muggle heads you could be shrinking?" A rather timid, fat little man coming from the direction I was headed gave me a scared look and ducked into the nearest shop. I laughed to myself when I noticed that it was a Lady's Lingerie Shop.

"Look, Lily, I've already told this to you before, I'm sorry!" he pleaded, trailing behind me.

"I'm not going to forgive you, Severus." I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned around, so that his hooked nose and my small, un-hooked nose were almost touching. "What you did that day, out in the courtyard, might have not seemed like a big deal to you, because you were trying to get a laugh from your so-called friends, weren't you?' Severus shook his head slightly, but kept his black eyes locked with my green ones. 'Don't lie, Severus. It's hard enough on me as it is, but you were my best friend; I stood up for you, I tried to help you down, but it became clear to me that day that you didn't need me, didn't want me as a friend anymore. So if that's what you want, then so be it. Good-bye, Severus Snape."

I turned on my heel and quickened my pace. Damn it, it was already 1:28. My fast walk broke into a run, and I reached the supermarket in less than 3 minutes.

"Ah, Miss Evans.' greeted Mr Porter as the Service clerk alerted him of my arrival. Mr Porter was a large man with a big stomach; he wore a suit and the way his coat buttons protruded reminded me greatly of Professor Slughorn. 'Good that you're here; we would like you to start in Register 4, with Brittany. And good thing you arrived when you did, too, the weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse." He was right; what had been a beautifully sunny day not a moment ago had now turned into a horribly rainy day.

"_Poor Severus," _I thought . "_He must be drenched; I hope he got home quickly._"

"Excuse me?' asked a woman in a house robe and a pair of tartan slippers. ' I would like to check out now."

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry,' I apologized as I started checking out the woman's items. 'Did you have a lovely shopping experience?" I asked. The woman replied, but I wasn't paying attention. As I was scanning her various items, mainly consisting of cat food and cabbage, my thoughts drifted back to what had happened on the sidewalk. Had I been too hard on Severus? Had I been too gentle?

Meanwhile, three blocks away, still standing on Drummond Street, in the middle of the hurry and scurry of frantic Muggles struggling for shelter, stood Severus Snape, dripping wet, hands in pockets. He had grown taller since the summer he had met Lily, but was still very scrawny, and greasy. He had been staring down at his feet since Lily had run off. And to no one in particular, except for Lily, he muttered:

"I'm Sorry, Lily."

* * *

A/N: Story rather random; just me trying to work off pre-job jitters, and putting some LilyxSnape in there. :D


End file.
